‘Universal appeal’: Celebrity Traitors producer reveals secrets to its success

Over 10m people have tuned in for episodes of new season of BBC hit as mass TV audiences become increasingly rare

For the celebrities chosen as traitors in the BBC’s juggernaut reality show, the task is simple – kill off fellow contestants without getting caught.

“It’s very difficult to get people to watch programmes, and there is a huge joy coming up with something that a very large amount of people watch,” Stephen Lambert, head of the Celebrity Traitors producer Studio Lambert, told the Radio Times.

Despite its appeal, however, Lambert may still struggle to attract the man he revealed to be his dream contestant: Tom Cruise.

In doing so, it has bucked a long-running trend that has seen mass TV audiences become increasingly rare. The arrival of streamers, digital platforms and smartphones have ensured such viewing figures have become the preserve of the Olympics, England World Cup matches and the odd breakthrough hit.

“It’s the engine of The Traitors,” he said. “It’s about the pleasure that we know more than the protagonists – we know who is lying. And it’s fun to try and watch people work out who the liars are.”

Lambert confirmed that casting for Celebrity Traitors was not difficult because its popularity meant that the names who agreed to go into the traitors’ castle were also fans. Producers have previously noted the show does not face the usual challenges of attracting names to formats that ask them to eat bugs or train for weeks on end.

When asked about dream contestants, Lambert said: “Tom Cruise, maybe? And we would like to have a big sports star. But if they are an active one, they have commitments.”

Even the most experienced TV insiders freely admit that productions that were fun to make and have found audiences overseas come with no guarantee of success.

“It’s just a joy to sit back and marvel at the duplicity and wonder why the faithful can’t see the traitors for who they are! That said, the cliffhangers are so brilliantly executed … and with the celeb version we get that wonderful extra sneaky peak behind the facade of celebrity.